Live from WBF 2008-- Seven Steps...Alarm Management

Eddie Habibi and Bill Hollifield have written a book that I've reviewed before...and Paul Berwanger delivered a paper based on the book: Seven Steps in Creating a Highly Effective Alarm Management System authored by Habibi and Hollifield. Critical Decision Making in a "Blink" Is it really ESP? Fire fighters narrowly escape death in Cleveland Was it ESP? Or fire captain’s unconscious thin-slicing of situation E.R. Dr.’s, Air Traffic Controllers & Plant Operators All monitor and analyze information All make frequent critical, split-second decisions All take actions to arrive at desired outcomes Knowledge Worker per Peter F. Drucker: one who works primarily with information, or one who develops and uses knowledge Process Operators are the Hidden Knowledge Workers!!! On-the-Job duties Monitor, gather, analyze data Create, share and use knowledge Make decision and take action  Responsibilities Production rate and quality Plant safety Environmental, Compliance…  Abnormal Situations-- An Industry Wide Crisis $20 Billion lost annually to Abnormal Situations Loss of production, damage to equipment Health & safety consequences Environmental Excursions  Challenges Complexity & Coupling of Automation Operator Loading Extended Equipment Runtimes    Industry initiatives Critical Condition Management best practices by PAS Abnormal Situation Management™ (ASM) Consortium Engineering Equipment and Materials Users Assoc. (EEMUA) The Root Cause of Alarm Issues: We have found the culprit… and it is us! Who designs and maintains the equipment? Who designs and manages the process? What is Alarm Management? Definition: The proper design, implementation, operation,   and maintenance of alarm systems Benefits: Improved situational awareness Reduced operator workload Reduced incident rate Improved reliability & profitability Seven Steps to a Highly Effective Alarm System 1. Develop, Adopt, and Maintain an Alarm Philosophy 2. Collect Data and Benchmark Your Systems 3. Perform “Bad Actor” Alarm Resolution 4. Perform Alarm Documentation and Rationalization (D&R) 5. Implement Alarm Audit and Enforcement Technology 6. Implement Real Time Alarm Management 7. Control and Maintain Your Improved System